Rally kicks things off with some AI doom talk just for fun (thanks, Anthropic) before flipping the topic to a drug called Rentosertib, designed entirely by AI. This one turned up an unexpected bonus while treating a lung disease — younger-looking biomarkers in patients. But the real story isn’t the drug. It’s the two proven things you can start doing right now that might be even better than Rentosertib.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
RALLY:
Hey there, Beautiful People! Welcome back to The Silver Beast Podcast. I’m Rally Preston. Seventy-one years old here. And I’m old enough to remember when the Zenith Space Command TV remote control was a major leap in technological innovation.
So now, look at us — we’ve got Artificial Intelligence. You’ve used AI, right? Like ChatGPT. Maybe for writing an email, or planning a trip. Finding the cheapest gas – good luck with that. Or maybe you’ve had a little witty banter with one of those chatty chatbots like Alexa or Siri.
So I’ve got some good news and bad news about AI – which do you want first?
Yeah, okay, I’m with you, let’s just get the bad news out of the way first.
So an AI researcher at Anthropic said this week he thinks there’s a chance AI will kill us all within 10 years. Then all those little Roomba robot vacuum cleaners will swarm in and clean up the mess, I guess. Ok, that’s pretty bad news – well, for us humans anyway.
Now here’s the good news. A new drug designed by AI may slow down the aging process for us by something like three to four years. Aww see, that’s nice. AI being nice.
Okay. So AI either wants to go full Terminator on us, or help us live longer. And it just hasn’t made up its mind, just yet, I guess.
Well, you know, I’m an optimist, mostly. So I’m going with the longevity bit – AI helping us out here. Ask me again in 10 years, but for right now I’m going with a positive spin on the tech here.
So let’s look at what’s up with this new AI drug I mentioned. And you’re just going to get the highlights here – which really just means the parts I understand. And then, we’ll see how maybe we (us humans) can actually turn back our biological clocks without waiting on AI’s designer drugs. So you’re going to want to stay tuned for that.
So this new drug is called Rentosertib. And what’s really unique about this one is it’s the first drug in the world designed completely by AI.
Now it was created in the first place to treat a serious lung disease: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF. It’s a very tough disease, scars the lungs.
But here’s the twist in this story. While they were testing this new drug on patients, researchers noticed something a little odd. The patients’ key health biomarkers that are linked to aging started to shift.
They were getting biologically younger. Three to four years younger, on average. And in one case, up to six years.
So the company developing this drug, Insilico Medicine, the company’s founder called this, well, here’s his quote: “a promising trend in age reversal. It came as a bonus for disease treatment.”
Okay, so a nice little surprise there. Cha-ching – is what he was probably thinking. (That’s a cash register.)
Now, before we get too excited about this – the biological age reversal stuff. This was from a small study, just 42 patients with IPF, a lung disease. And only over 12 weeks.
So those younger biological markers showing up from this drug could just be from their lungs doing a little better.
And the researchers did say after you stop taking the drug, those younger-looking biological markers do return back to normal. So there’s that.
So the drug’s going to be tested in over 300 patients next. And this is a full year-long study. So we’ll see what shakes out of that one.
So that’s one drug, Renosertib. But what’s the bigger picture here, I think, the real story is that this isn’t just a one-off AI drug.
A lot more biotech companies are using AI to hunt for longevity drugs these days. Because, well, obviously that’s where the money is, right?
In fact, Eli Lilly – the biggest big pharma company in the world – just signed a deal worth billions to play with Insilico’s AI drug-discovery tools.
So yeah, a lot more to come from this. This may be the first AI drug designed from scratch, but it’s not going to be the last. Well, unless AI decides to pull the plug on us first.
Okay, well, it’s interesting, right? This new drug. So Renosertib is still years away from hitting your medicine cabinet – and that’s if it proves out to be a longevity booster.
So yeah, no miracle life-enhancing pill yet. Okay, fine, but I’m gonna let you in on a couple of secrets here. And listen, don’t tell Elli Lilly about this; they just spent a ton of money. But there are things we can do right now that honestly can rival what this fancy new AI drug may be able to do. And these are already pretty well proven to work.
Alright, so secret longevity hack number one: And that would be food.
Now researchers at the University of Sydney ran a study on folks aged 65 to 75. And they split them into four diet groups.
Well, one of those groups ate more whole grains, beans, lentils, and sweet potatoes. About 70% of their protein came from plants. They still ate some meat, but, you know, just not a lot.
So after just four weeks, that group’s biological age dropped by over four years.
Four years biologically younger in one month. Just by eating stuff like oatmeal and lentil soup.
So that’s about the same results as that fancy AI drug. Uh-oh.
And again, not a word to Eli Lilly about this, but this apparently works. More plant-based proteins – all from your local grocery store.
Alright, secret longevity hack number two: Movement.
Alright, there’s this big study from Brigham Young University with 6,000 adults. This one measured something called telomeres.
So to make this simple enough that even I can understand it (which isn’t easy), think of telomeres like those little plastic tips on the ends of your shoelaces – but for your DNA. Well, those telomeres wear down as you age.
But it turns out the folks who exercised the most in this BYU study — and they really got after it, 30- 40 minutes’ worth most days of the week — had telomeres that looked nine years younger than the folks who barely moved at all.
Nine years, Beasties. That’s a lot more than our lab-grown wonder drug there.
And okay, exercising is not as easy as popping a pill, but for nine-years-younger biomarkers, hey, I don’t mind sweating a little more.
Now I know, more vigorous exercise is a big ask when you’re older. I know that first-hand. But we’re not talking a marathon here, just things like brisk walking that gets your heart pumping. A bike ride. Or dancing around in the kitchen to your old Elvis records, maybe. There are plenty of things you can do like that.
Alright, so this is where we’re at, Silver Beasties.
Scientists and AI are out there spending tons of money to maybe buy us some extra time – or at least more healthier years. We’ll see what happens.
But in the meantime, we’ve got some pretty good tools to do the job right now. Just waiting for you in your grocery store, or those walking shoes in your closet.
Okay, so, let’s take just those two do-it-yourself longevity hacks we talked about and work them into your Silver Beast Action Steps for today. No AI needed for this; we’re just gonna use our own smarts, and we’ve got plenty of that.
Alright, Action Step One: Change up just one meal this week. Swap the hamburger, steak or whatever animal-based protein you had planned, and go for a more plant-based meal. Like a big helping of beans, or lentils, quinoa, or chickpeas, maybe. Chickpea hummus with pita bread is pretty good. But, you know, whatever you like. Plant-based proteins – try that once or twice a week to start.
Alright, Action Step Two: Add a whole grain to your plate today. So, oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat toast. This one is so easy, but a big payoff in the long run.
Alright, Action Step Three: Now let’s whip those telomeres back in shape – you know, your DNA’s shoelaces. Just get your heart pumping most days. Brisk walk. Bike ride. Vigorous yard work, even. Get that blood pumping.
Alright, Action Step Four: Give it 30 days. So those two studies we talked about – the plant-first diet and the vigorous exercise one – they showed real change in biomarkers pretty fast. Like in a month. So give it at least that much time.
Alright, Action Step Five: Be sure and touch base with your doctor before ramping up exercise or changing your diet in a big way – especially if you’re managing a heart condition, diabetes, or anything like that.
Alright, here’s what I want to leave you with. That AI-designed drug we talked about? Well, that’s pretty amazing science there – and I bet a lot more of that is coming.
But the whole point today is, you don’t need a supercomputer and billions of dollars to start turning back your own biological clock.
As long as you’ve got a kitchen and good walking shoes, that’s a great start.
Swap out meats for some plant-based proteins and grab those walking shoes and go for it – with your doc’s okay. Just start with those two things.
Alright, this is Rally Preston. Hey, thank you so much for hanging out with me today here on The Silver Beast Podcast. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you soon, and take care!